Florida Silver Alerts

Florida has been added to the growing list of States implementing Silver Alerts.

Of Florida’s 4.3 million residents over the age of 60, about 500,000 may suffer from Alzheimer’s, the governor’s office said. About 1,800 senior citizens — not all with cognitive impairments — were reported missing in 2007, according to FDLE.

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Senators and Silver Alerts

The campaign for Silver Alerts continues.

U.S. Sen. Herb Kohl has proposed legislation to create a nationwide network to aid in locating missing adults and senior citizens.

The Silver Alert Act, developed by Kohl, D-Wis., and Sen. Mel Martinez, R-Fla., is modeled after the Amber Alert system for missing children and would provide federal coordination and assistance to local and state law enforcement agencies.

“Setting up a Silver Alert system for seniors who go missing due to Alzheimer’s disease or dementia will promote the safety of our nation’s seniors, while bringing peace of mind to many concerned families,” said Kohl, who chairs the Senate Special Committee on Aging. “With half a million new cases of Alzheimer’s every year, the need for a system of this kind will only grow.”

 Related Posts:

Kristen’s Act Reauthorization of 2008

Silver Alert Bill Passes House

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Kristen’s Act Reauthorization of 2008

H.R. 6064: Kristen’s Act Reauthorization of 2008

National Silver Alert Act –

Directs the Attorney General to: (1) establish a national Silver Alert communications network to assist regional and local search efforts for missing seniors; (2) assign a Department of Justice officer to serve as the Silver Alert Coordinator to coordinate the network with states; and (3) award grants to states for support of Silver Alert plans and the network. Defines “missing senior” as any individual who is reported as missing to or by a law enforcement agency and who meets state requirements for designation as a missing senior.

GovTrack.us. H.R. 6064–110th Congress (2008): Kristen’s Act Reauthorization of 2008, GovTrack.us (database of federal legislation) (accessed Sep 22, 2008)

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Silver Alert Bill Passes House

WASHINGTON — Representative Candice Miller says passage of the Silver Alert Program in the U.S. House is a great step forward in the care of senior citizens.

“With the aging population that we have today, I just think that this is something that makes perfect sense,” says Miller. “It’s a common sense approach, and it’s of low cost to the taxpayers because we already have the Amber Alert in place.”

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NCMA and Silver Alerts

The push for an alert system for missing seniors continues. While congress failed to fund the National Center for Missing Adults (NCMA), States continue to express the need for Silver Alerts. What happens when the Silver Alert, like an AMBER Alert expires, where is their information posted then?

COLUMBIA, SC (AP) – Lt. Gov. Andre Bauer says South Carolina needs an alert system to quickly find seniors who wander off because they suffer from Alzheimer’s or dementia.

Bauer told a group of seniors at the Statehouse on Tuesday that he’s working to create an emergency Silver Alert system that’s modeled after the Amber Alert system used to find missing children.

 Adding to a growing list:

TRENTON, N.J. – New Jersey would become the 11th state to create an emergency system for locating elderly residents gone missing, under a bill that advanced Monday.

The alert system would be much like the “Amber Alert” used by state police to find missing children.

The “Silver Alert” system is already in use in 10 states: Colorado, Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, Michigan, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Texas and Virginia.

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